In software engineering, the template method pattern is a behavioral design pattern that defines the program skeleton of an algorithm in an operation, deferring some steps to subclasses. It lets one redefine certain steps of an algorithm without changing the algorithm's structure.
Contents
Introduction
In the template method of this design pattern, one or more algorithm steps can be overridden by subclasses to allow differing behaviors while ensuring that the overarching algorithm is still followed.
In object-oriented programming, a concrete class is created that provides the steps of an algorithm design. Steps that are considered invariant are implemented inside the base class. The steps that are considered to be variant, are given a default implementation or none at all. These variant steps must be supplied by concrete derived subclasses. Thus the general algorithm is saved in one place but the concrete steps may be changed by the subclasses.
The template method pattern thus manages the larger picture of task semantics, and more refined implementation details of selection and sequence of methods. This larger picture calls abstract and non-abstract methods for the task at hand. The non-abstract methods are completely controlled by the template method, but the abstract methods, implemented in subclasses, provide the pattern's expressive power and degree of freedom. Template method's abstract class may also define hook methods that may be overridden by subclasses.
Some or all of the abstract methods can be specialized in a subclass, allowing the writer of the subclass to provide particular behavior with minimal modifications to the larger semantics. The template method (that is non-abstract) remains unchanged in this pattern, ensuring that the subordinate non-abstract methods and abstract methods are called in the originally intended sequence.
The template method pattern occurs frequently, at least in its simplest case, where a method calls only one abstract method when using object oriented languages. If a software writer uses a polymorphic method at all, this design pattern may be a rather natural consequence. This is because a method calling an abstract or polymorphic function is simply the reason for being of the abstract or polymorphic method. The template method pattern may be used to add immediate present value to the software or with a vision to enhancements in the future.
Usage
The template method is used in frameworks, where each implements the invariant parts of a domain's architecture, leaving "placeholders" for customization options. This is an example of inversion of control. The template method is used for the following reasons:
Usage with code generators
The template pattern is useful working with auto-generated code. The challenge of working with generated code is that any refinement of the source material will lead to changes in the generated code, which could overwrite hand-written modifications. This may be solved using the Template pattern, by generating abstract code, and making hand-written modifications to a concrete subclass or implementation class. The abstract code may be in the form of an abstract class in C++, or an interface in Java or C#. The hand-written code would go into a subclass in C++, and an implementing class in Java or C#. When used with code generation, this pattern is sometimes referred to as the Generation Gap pattern.